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TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | OCT 2018 9
Tybee Folk n’ Lore
Pirates of Tybee Island
By Andrew Galipeau
When most people think of pirates, a few images come to mind.
Usually it is either Johnny Depp, the loveable swashbuckler, and his crew
in the Caribbean, the seas of Somalia, or well... the Pittsburg Pirates
baseball team. No one ever thinks about the pirates of Coastal Georgia,
of which there were/are quite a few. The numerous small and thickly
wooded barrier islands that make up the coast and their proximity to
fresh water sources, made for easy hide-outs for pirates and their booty
along the coast. Tybee, for many decades, was one such hot spot.
During the 16th and 17th century, the Spanish began their conquest of
pillaging the new world, mainly around the southern coast. To interrupt
this, the English, who were thinking, “Hmmmmm... we don’t really want
an all out war with the Spanish right now but ... we can’t let them just
take everything,” decided, “I know, let’s just tell a select group of captains
to act like pirates, raid and loot the spanish Galleons, and we will deny
that we had anything to do with it when they get caught!” This dropped
Tybee, then claimed by the Spanish and called Los Bajos, right in the
middle of this struggle. Los Bajos was the northern Guale Missionary
province of Spanish Florida, a series of Roman Catholic outposts.
This conflict went on for decades until, in 1720, James Moore took
things into his own hands. James Moore decided this whole maritime
guerilla warfare thing just wasn’t working out, so he figured, ‘Let’s get
the Pirates and some Native American warriors while we’re at it… We’re
going to Florida.’ A long bloodbath ensued for 2 years, and although the
goal of toppling the capital of St. Augustine failed, the lack of people left
alive between South Carolina and Florida made it much easier for James
Oglethorpe, in the name of England, to establish the colony of Georgia.
One of the pirates who were known to troll the waters out near
Tybee was Edward Teach, more commonly known as Blackbeard. Teach
used Tybee as a staging area for raids on Charleston, but after one such
successful raid, he wrecked the Queen Anne’s Revenge, his beloved
ship. He, like many current day Tybeenians, loved him some booze.
So remember - Drinking and Pillaging is bad, always plan to have a
designated captain or you might wreck your own beloved ship.
Another notable named pirate of the era was Captain Henry Morgan
… no not that Captain Morgan. Henry Morgan a.k.a. Captain Kidd is
rumored to have buried his treasure out here on one of his many visits.
I know that I have a constant eye scanning the ground for Kidd’s fabled
“X.” Trust me, I’m looking for treasure ... I swear I’m not just hanging my
head because I’m too drunk off of grog...
Dizzy Deans
Beer, Wine, Liquor, Cigarettes, Cigars
Mon-Thurs: 10am-10pm Fri: 10am-11pm
Sat: 9am-11pm Sun: 12:30pm- 8pm
912-786-4500
1516 Butler Avenue
912-786-6593
/www.tybeemarketiga.com